Systems Administrator
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Systems Administrator manages the day-to-day operations of an organization's computer networks, including the systems that connect computers and other technology to each other and to outside networks. Installs, organizes, and supports the hardware and software of these systems.
Job Outlook
There were 1253 Systems Administrator job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 38826 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Network / Systems Administrator industry, which includes the Systems Administrator career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Systems Administrator jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $102,079.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $99,969.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Systems Administrator postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $85,633.
Education and Experience
Posted Systems Administrator jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 58.33% |
| Master's Degree | 10.59% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2.14% |
| Other | 11.15% |
Posted Systems Administrator jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 20.23% |
| 3 to 5 years | 49.55% |
| 6 to 8 years | 16.52% |
| 9+ years | 13.7% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Systems Administrator positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (56.08%)
- Communication (40.96%)
- Management (40.96%)
- Operations (35.98%)
- Problem Solving (29.15%)
- Information Technology (22.1%)
- Planning (17.95%)
- Customer Service (14.68%)
- Detail Oriented (12.84%)
- Leadership (12.55%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Scripting (21.86%)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (7.56%)
- Windows Servers (19.39%)
- Hyper-V (5.66%)
- Group Policy (10.14%)
- Linux (26.26%)
- System Administration (34.39%)
- Operating Systems (34.23%)
- Computer Science (27.41%)
- Active Directory (25.65%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Technical Issues (8.63%)
- Network Switches (8.17%)
- Network Routing (8.81%)
- Virtualization (11.9%)
- Vulnerability (0.18%)
- TCP/IP (7.07%)
- SQL (Programming Language) (11.76%)
- Microsoft SharePoint (6.68%)
- Windows PowerShell (15.72%)
- Project Management (13.72%)
- Python (Programming Language) (11.39%)
- Virtual Private Networks (VPN) (5.16%)
- ITIL 4 (5.29%)
- Help Desk Support (9.54%)
- Firewall (12.56%)
- Finance (3.13%)
- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) (10.68%)
- Disaster Recovery (10.35%)
- Cyber Security (9.95%)
- Information Systems (12.23%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (5.26%)
- Configuration Management (8.73%)
- Business Requirements (4.34%)
- Unix (8.69%)
- Automation (21.48%)
- Microsoft Azure (15.37%)
- Backup Devices (16.51%)
- Bash (Scripting Language) (7.04%)
- Amazon Web Services (12.39%)
- Technical Support (14.54%)
- Auditing (14.11%)
- IT Infrastructure (9.65%)
- Workflow Management (12.9%)
- Azure Active Directory (3.43%)
- Microsoft 365 (11.09%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Veeam (1.7%)
- VMware vCenter (3.77%)
- Virtual Machines (4.21%)
- VMware VSphere (5.16%)
- Server Administration (3.58%)
- Microsoft Servers (3.94%)
- Linux Servers (4.05%)
- VMware ESX Servers (4.87%)
- Windows System Administration (3.37%)
- Patch Management (4.46%)
- Office 365 Exchange Online (1.75%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Virtual Machines (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Systems Administrator skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Systems Specialist
- Quality Systems Specialist
- Cloud Systems Administrator
- Health System Specialist
- Administrator
- Building Automation Specialist
- Servicenow Administrator
- Jira Administrator
- Principal Administrator
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- IT Administrator
- Windows Administrator
- VMware Engineer / Administrator
- Middleware Administrator
- Systems Support Specialist
- Unix Administrator / Engineer
- Technical Support Engineer / Analyst
- Network / Systems Support Specialist
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Systems Administrator jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Robert Half (838)
- General Dynamics (707)
- GovCIO (633)
- Leidos (623)
- Siemens (459)
- CACI International (406)
- Insight Global (365)
- United States Department of Transportation (319)
- United States Department of Veterans Affairs (316)
- TEKsystems (312)
North Carolina
- General Dynamics (45)
- Siemens (40)
- State of North Carolina (30)
- ASGN (20)
- Robert Half (18)
- Booz Allen Hamilton (15)
- Genesis10 (15)
- CACI International (15)
- Arma Global Corporation (15)
- TEKsystems (12)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.